Slovene police officers among also perform Community Policing which is similar to that known in Slovenia. Concrete tasks are therefore similar to those that are performed in Slovenia by the beat police officers.

Three Slovene police officers immediately undertook this project and tasks with great seriousness; they tried to transfer their knowledge and expertise, gained in Slovenia to Kosovo. The working environment of the Novo selo - Maxhunaj police sector includes the villages of Novo selo - Maxhunaj, Gojbula, Slatina and Banjska where four elementary schools are located, namely two Albanian and two Serbian.

Due to the critical traffic conditions in this area we started with the "Safety on the way to school" project, which has been active for quite some time now in Slovenia, as part of prevention activities. In this way students learn of all the dangers and traffic rules and are given advice on self-protection measures. We requested the representatives of the Slovene Road Safety Council for help and they sent us reflective barges and tapes which we distributed among the pupils at the end of our elementary course.

We carefully planned the project and started with it - as in Slovenia - at the beginning of the school year. We also invited the representative of the Kosovo police force (KPS - Kosovo Police Service), a police officer of the Vučitrn police station who later delivered the course independently in both Albanian schools and Serbian schools. In this way the project can continue to be carried out also in the future.

We visited a Serbian elementary school in Gojbula (24 children, visiting 1. to 6. grade) and in Banjska (5 children, from 1. to 4. grade), and also the Albanian elementary school Mustafa Venar in Slatina (31 children, from 1. to 4. grade) and Albanian elementary school Rilinja in Novo selo (105 children, from 1. to 2. grade).

During our first visit we tried to demonstrate some basic rules in traffic. We explained how they should behave on a dangerous road, demonstrated correct behaviour when walking along the road and upon crossing it, made reference to the type of clothes most suitable for pedestrian visibility and the importance of carrying reflective objects. We pointed out that reflective objects keep us safe in traffic, as they make us more visible even at night. Besides that we showed them various pictures and postcards, and rewarded them with paint books, postcards and reflective badges in the shape of a teddy bear. At the end of the lecture the children promised us that they will wear the "lucky bear" and we in turn promised them to come back to visit.

Also in future we will try to help children in different ways. We are transferring the project on Kosovo police officers who were very positive about it. The response of the teachers was also quite good, and they wish to cooperate with us also in the future.

Prepared by: Elvis FAJKOVIC